Essex Considers Anti-Blight Ordinance

September 06, 2010|By KIM VELSEY, kvelsey@courant.com

ESSEX — — A fire gutted a two-family house at 11 Main St. in Ivoryton in February 2009. More than a year and a half later, the damage is still visible: A tarp covers a hole where the roof used to be, most of the windows have been broken and the charred back porch looks ready to crumble in a strong wind.

Faded caution tape peeks through the yard's overgrown grass and an old trailer sits amid a tangle of debris behind the house.

The zoning commission's file on 11 Main is thick with complaints from neighbors. It also is filled with copies of cease-and-desist orders. The most recent of these warn of a possible lawsuit. That is the town's only recourse when owners don't comply with zoning regulations, said zoning commission attorney Peter Sipples, but it's not necessarily an ideal one.

"It's a fairly lengthy procedure," said Sipples.

Without a blight ordinance, the town's powers to intervene are limited.

Patricia Hurley, a retired teacher, lives two doors down from 11 Main in a well-maintained, older house. Like the others homes lining the street, it is meticulously kept.

Hurley learned about the limits of zoning regulations after writing letters to the town, including a petition signed by 12 neighbors.

"I always felt so lucky to live on this beautiful, idyllic stretch on Falls River," said Hurley, explaining that her love of the neighborhood has motivated her to try to solve the problem of 11 Main St.

In addition to her letter-writing, she called someone in the health department, who told her they would check the house, but couldn't do anything unless it was infested with vermin. She even looked into buying the property with a consortium of neighbors.

Hurley admitted that the last plan was a stretch, but said that she's been considering anything that might help. She said that the poorly secured house, aside from being an eyesore, "was a disaster waiting to happen."

First Selectman Phil Miller said the town's proposed anti-blight ordinance could make it much easier for the town to intervene in such situations.

"It's a tool we haven't had in the past. This will give us the latitude to raze degraded properties that present health or safety risks," said Miller. "Right now, we can't even cut the grass."

The proposed ordinance would give the board of selectmen the authority "to take remedial action to secure and/or improve the [blighted] premises to protect public health and safety and/or property values of the surrounding neighborhoods."

Miller said that the ordinance also would allow the board to place liens on such properties to recover work costs.

According to Miller, the town has about six blighted properties — uninhabitable buildings with serious structural damage, often from fires — including one in the heart of downtown. Miller said owners are either unwilling or financially unable to demolish the structures. In some cases, the town hasn't been able to determine who the owners are, or how to contact them.

"Maybe with a blight ordinance in place, we could get something done," said Hurley.

The case of 11 Main St. may be resolved without the ordinance. Attorney Thomas Cloutier, representing property owner Sharon Brousseau, said he is working with the town to try to get the property cleaned up. A lawsuit has not been filed.

A public hearing on the ordinance has been scheduled for Sept. 20 at 7 p.m., with a town meeting at 8 p.m. The full text of the ordinance is posted on http://www.essexct.gov.